I do like Washington and to a little lesser extent Miami. But the eastern conference champion has already been crowned with Hayward's injury. Damn shame.

 

And so has the West champion. 4th straight year the NBA Finals matchup has been determined in October with the same 2 teams. I try to enjoy the basketball being played, but How do people get into the regular season if it means absolutely nothing?

 

Talk about a gut punch to the Celtics.

 

They are done.

 

And according to Vincent Goodwill, Portis and Mirotic have disliked each other for 2 years now.

Edited October 18, 20178 yr by SoxAce

This pushes Lauri to the starting role, maybe it's a blessing in disguise.

Frankly, I don't see how you can have Niko and Portis on the same team anymore. Fights happen, but this one went a bit too far. If Portis did this on the street, he would be in jail.

 

If this happened with someone from another team during a game, they would be gone a long, long time. Portis needs to get at least 20 games IMO.

Edited October 18, 20178 yr by Dick Allen

See if you can get anything for Portis, if not, cut him or send him to Windy City if you can.

See if you can get anything for Portis, if not, cut him or send him to Windy City if you can.

Yeah, if Portis was truly a building block, you suspend him for a couple of months but keep him around and maybe find a new home for Niko. He might turn into a decent player, but he's pretty replaceable. He'll fill rosters of the garbage teams for 10 years. Both are pretty replaceable. Losing either one or both will never cost the Bulls a championship.

Edited October 18, 20178 yr by Dick Allen

Frankly, I don't see how you can have Niko and Portis on the same team anymore. Fights happen, but this one went a bit too far. If Portis did this on the street, he would be in jail.

 

If this happened with someone from another team during a game, they would be gone a long, long time. Portis needs to get at least 20 games IMO.

 

then again if he were Michael Jordan, no one would say anything for decades.

Portis may not be a building block but there were times in the celts playoff series he looked like the best young player on the floor. Not someone in our situation you want to be forced to give away.

 

I do think a lengthy suspension is necessary and I also like putting him down in G League. However, I think if Niko files a battery? charge it's warranted and I wouldn't blame him. He obviously won't.

then again if he were Michael Jordan, no one would say anything for decades.

They didn't go to the hospital, and Michael Jordan made the Bulls money. If he broke some bones in someone's face and they missed 6 weeks, something would have happened to him. I was watching Kaplan's show last night and Bob Nightengale was on when they started talking about this. Fights in practice and clubhouses according to Nightengale are pretty common. They just usually don't get reported. And this one wouldn't have been reported if Niko didn't get severely injured.

 

Kermit Washington got a 60 day suspension when he almost killed Rudy Tomjanovich back when the NBA had fights pretty often. Earlier that year, in a game between the same teams, Kareem Abdul Jabbar broke Kevin Kunnert's jaw with a punch, he also broke his hand, and got no suspension.

Edited October 18, 20178 yr by Dick Allen

Adrian Wojnarowski‏Verified account @wojespn 2h2 hours ago

 

Chicago's Bobby Portis has call set with NBA in New York today to discuss punch thrown at teammate Nikola Mirotic, league sources tell ESPN.

 

Story going around is Niko instigated, pushed Portis multiple times and finally Portis put him down. That’s what Vescey is saying, and Goodwill said this has been brewing for a few years, plus Spiegel was saying Niko doesn’t have many fans in the locker room

2 more assets handled perfectly by Gar Forman.

Forget suspending Portis, they just need to make him sit and watch this trainwreck.

 

Story going around is Niko instigated, pushed Portis multiple times and finally Portis put him down. That’s what Vescey is saying, and Goodwill said this has been brewing for a few years, plus Spiegel was saying Niko doesn’t have many fans in the locker room

 

Or in the stands.

Except Gage.

Edited October 18, 20178 yr by Brian

2 more assets handled perfectly by Gar Forman.

Honestly...how does this have any bearing on Gar or Pax or anyone else. This was two players getting into it and one ultimately snapped.

Or in the stands.

Except Gage.

Ha, I'm not a big Niko fan. I do think his defense has been criminally underrated though. I didn't mind the 2yr deal they gave him.

Honestly...how does this have any bearing on Gar or Pax or anyone else. This was two players getting into it and one ultimately snapped.

 

If everyone was aware that this has been brewing for two years and nobody went to these guys and told them to be professional and to knock that s*** off, it is also on the coaching staff and front office for doing nothing

 

And yesterday, where the hell was the coaching staff when this went off? Come on

Honestly...how does this have any bearing on Gar or Pax or anyone else. This was two players getting into it and one ultimately snapped.

 

Hey man, if Paxson can punch someone in the face why can't Bobby.

8 game suspension. So he will be back before Niko.

If everyone was aware that this has been brewing for two years and nobody went to these guys and told them to be professional and to knock that s*** off, it is also on the coaching staff and front office for doing nothing

 

And yesterday, where the hell was the coaching staff when this went off? Come on

Sports are intense, stuff happens. People love to blame Gar and Pax for everything. You know what...sometimes blame doesn't belong there. This is on Niko and Portis and to deflect that blame onto others is not right.

They didn't go to the hospital, and Michael Jordan made the Bulls money. If he broke some bones in someone's face and they missed 6 weeks, something would have happened to him. I was watching Kaplan's show last night and Bob Nightengale was on when they started talking about this. Fights in practice and clubhouses according to Nightengale are pretty common. They just usually don't get reported. And this one wouldn't have been reported if Niko didn't get severely injured.

 

Kermit Washington got a 60 day suspension when he almost killed Rudy Tomjanovich back when the NBA had fights pretty often. Earlier that year, in a game between the same teams, Kareem Abdul Jabbar broke Kevin Kunnert's jaw with a punch, he also broke his hand, and got no suspension.

Yes, they are in all pro sports. But the key factor here was the extent of the injury. Hitting someone hard enough to fracture the upper jaw is crazy. That's a great deal of force. He either had to hit him when he wasn't looking or when he was on the floor.

Honestly...how does this have any bearing on Gar or Pax or anyone else. This was two players getting into it and one ultimately snapped.

 

If this has been running for years, this is more on Hoiberg than anyone else for not being able to control and mold his lockerroom. Either that or telling management that this situation wasn't going to work and get rid of one of them.

Yes, they are in all pro sports. But the key factor here was the extent of the injury. Hitting someone hard enough to fracture the upper jaw is crazy. That's a great deal of force. He either had to hit him when he wasn't looking or when he was on the floor.

 

It's possible he got knocked out and the fall to the ground caused the fracture. Seems more likely IMO. I bet if Portis hit him hard enough to break Mirotic's face, he'd have a broken hand/fingers.

It's possible he got knocked out and the fall to the ground caused the fracture. Seems more likely IMO. I bet if Portis hit him hard enough to break Mirotic's face, he'd have a broken hand/fingers.

It's possible if he was out cold from the punch.

Story going around is Niko instigated, pushed Portis multiple times and finally Portis put him down. That’s what Vescey is saying, and Goodwill said this has been brewing for a few years, plus Spiegel was saying Niko doesn’t have many fans in the locker room

 

Gar had a chance to get rid of him last year but didn't as well. Typical.